Cemeteries and Graveyards – Hidden Clues to Your Ancestors

One of my favorite pastimes as an amateur genealogist is to spend a day, or a week or two in cemeteries. Yes, I know. It sounds a little creepy. When I dragged our youngest son with me for a couple of years, no doubt he thought his old Mama had lost it.

Did you know there are different names for the places where our ancestors are interred? If the burial site is attached to a church, it is a graveyard, and if it is set apart as its own place, it is a cemetery. So, my parents are buried in a cemetery, while most of my grandparents are buried in graveyards.

A FAVORITE SITE

I’ve followed genealogist, Lisa Lisson, for quite a few years. This past week, she did a blog post about information one may get from headstones. Here is a link to her site. https://lisalisson.com/

Lisa is down-to-earth and easy to understand. She offers practical tips for both the beginner genealogist and the advanced researcher. In the above-mentioned post, she said that gravestones are known by three different names. There’s a gravestone, headstone, and tombstone. Did you know they’re all different even though they serve the same general purpose? Go to Lisa’s site and search for her post about that.

GRAVE DECISIONS

My parents have the upright kind. My Granny and my Grandpa have a flat one. Granny’s is brass, but Grandpa’s is granite. Some of our older ancestors have big concrete slabs called tombstones, which cover their entire grave.

That thought took me back to ancestors from long, long ago and some of their gravestones. I’m using that term from here on out as it can get too confusing otherwise. They all serve the same purpose, to carry information about our loved ones.

Lisa spoke about the symbolism you can find on headstones. I guess I never thought about what the carvings could mean. But each thing has meaning. Clearly, I have a lot of work cut out for me. Common symbols are a cross signifying one’s Christian faith. The Star of David is another, signifying a Jewish heritage or a person following Judaism. A child’s gravestone will often have an angel.

For our parents’ gravestone, Dad, Sis, and I chose a heart shape. They were married for over fifty-four years before Mama left us. They were devoted to one another. Daddy always said, We were married for 54 years, eight months, and one day. They were married on April 12, 1942. This past April 12^th would have been their 80^th Anniversary. Unbelievable.

Cemetries and Graveyards - Hidden Clues to Your Ancestors @DDuPreeWilliams #genalogy #faith #writing Share on X

BE PREPARED

Here are things I’ve done when I’ve visited cemeteries or graveyards. First, I find the one or two graves I know I’m looking for. I photograph them and write down where they are in relation to some major landmarks within the burial grounds. Years ago, before the age of cell phones and digital photos,  I took a large piece of paper with me and some art charcoal to do a rubbing. Get a helper to hold the paper tight against the words on the stone, then rub the charcoal over the paper. It will pick up the information. This made a nice memory for those who live too far to see the stone in person. Nowadays, all we need is a cell phone. I wrote about headstone rubbings in my first novel, Grave Consequences.

My trusty cell phone or camera goes with me on each visit, so remember to have yours handy. Begin by photographing the headstones with your surnames.  Then photograph known family names. Make note of these in a notebook for future reference. If someone has documented the cemetery, you can find that by a simple computer search. Most of those records will be digital now and a huge help to those of us who can’t always go in person.

One more thing I always take with me is a handful of American flags. When I visit the final resting place of a family member who served in the military, I leave a flag at their grave. It isn’t big. Just a little one like the ones little kids wave at parades.

HAPPY HUNTING!

Many will not find a cemetery search to be fun or uplifting. One of my cousins simply cannot visit anyone’s gravesite. I understand. But if you’re like me and you love the hunt and the discovery, then you will want to document every little thing you can about that cemetery or graveyard.

I hope the past few posts have spurred your interest in finding your ancestors. Don’t forget to try to find the stories. That is the thing that makes them oh, so real. If you find unusual gravestones, please share a photo with us. I’m going to go do some research on those skulls on my ancestor’s tomb. I’ll be back next week.

 

Blessings, y’all!

One of my favorite groups and an all-time favorite song.  If I’ve used this before, I apologize. So worth hearing again. This is what we have to look forward to when those graves open wide!!

Even so, Lord Jesus, Come Quickly!!!